Interpersonal communication is critical among the fundamental needs that human beings require to have a sense of belonging and relate to (Melonashi, 2019). Ways of interpersonal communication have had a drastic change due to the development of information technology, leading to the increased availability of internet-based social media. Today there are many social media platforms as well as easy access to the internet that has led to excessive use of social media, thus interfering with the daily lives of young adults. Social media addiction is also believed to cause mental health problems and lower the academic performance of college students. The paper will give an overview of the causes of social media addiction, its prevalence, as well as how it can be addressed.
Social media can be termed as a platform that helps users to connect through simple internet access. There are different types of Social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. Social media addiction is, therefore, a form of internet addiction whereby individuals find themselves with an uncontrollable urge to use social media platforms (Mooney, 2019). As such, social media addiction has become an issue of concern, although it has not been medically recognised as a disease.
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Studies have shown that people who are likely to use social media are open to new experiences, and in most cases, they are creative and innovative. Again, individuals with anxiety and often get worried use social media excessively. Online social networking can be termed as dangerous as individuals who are used to neglect their offline social function aspects since they tend to be less interactive with family members and friends. Again, denying one from using social media may lead to abstinence syndrome that can drive that individual to substance abuse.
Causes of social media addiction include feelings of social isolation, insecurity, jealousy, poor self-esteem, and depression. Some of the instances where one may negatively be impacted by social media are when you see pictures of people enjoying their lives in different places around the world may create jealousy since you are not living the same life. Again, lack of ‘likes’ to your social media post as well as being attacked about a post you made reduces a person’s self-esteem. However, social media users also create adverse outcomes in those platforms by posting amazing things and portraying luxurious lifestyles, yet they are going through emotional torture. Again, individuals, mainly the introverts, use social media to give too much information about themselves, yet the information could have been directed to a family member of a friend (Kurniasih, 2017). Although poor self-esteem is associated with excessive use of social media, some individuals boost their esteem through these platforms. For instance, if one pleases people with what they post, they view the likes and positive comments as approval, which plays a significant role in boosting that person’s self-esteem.
According to various researchers, the prevalence of social media addiction was 2.8% among college students, and 47% of college students were addicted to Facebook (Acharjee, 2016). Facebook is the most commonly used social media platforms among millennials. Facebook has almost a billion users who engage in activities like posting photos, updating statuses, commenting and ‘liking’ other people’s posts.
The issue of social media addiction can, therefore, be addressed in different ways. One of them is through providing digital literacy and creating awareness of the effects of excessive social media use in educational institutions and also at workplaces. Again, social media platform operators can use their behavioural data to point out the excessive users and give strategies to limit the time users spend on their sites (Singh, & Davidson, 2018). Use of smartphones should also be banned in schools and work environments. Other places like restaurants can provide discounts to customers who do not use their mobile devices while taking a meal. As such, reinforcing positive strategies can minimize the time spent by online users checking social, thus increasing the time they will spend in real-life activities. Again, individuals can also seek treatment from specialist treatment centers.
However, the prohibition of social media use has proven to be difficult, especially in the world we are living in. Traditional cognitive behavioural therapy is among the most appropriate type of treatment for individuals with social media addiction. Cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) is a talking therapy whose aim is to aid in how an individual manages his/her problems by changing their behaviour or how they think. The treatment is based on the idea that people have a set of beliefs about themselves that make them have negative perceptions regarding the adversity, which prompt them to spend time alone. Cognitive-behavioural therapy that initially conceptualized by a psychologist called Beck was intended to deal with depression, but today, it is broadly used in other situations (Kazantzis, 2017).
Social media addiction is an issue that has raised eyebrows in the world and especially among millennials. Although the use of social media has a positive impact on its users like boosting self-esteem, it has more negative consequences. In addition, individuals hold the ultimate responsibility for their social media use, thus making it hard to control the time people spend on social media sites. For that reason, social media operators, employers, researchers, policymakers, educational institutions, and healthcare providers should contribute towards reducing excessive use of social media (Journals, 2019).
References
Acharjee, S. (2016). Look Up: Social Media and the Addiction No One Is Talking About . Carlsbad, CA: Hay House.
Journals, A. M. (2019). Social Media Addiction Journal . Independently Published.
Kazantzis, N. (2017). The Therapeutic Relationship in Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy: A Clinician's Guide . New York, NY: Guilford Publications.
Kurniasih, N. (2017). Internet Addiction, Lifestyle or Mental Disorder? A Phenomenological Study on Social Media Addiction in Indonesia. KnE Social Sciences , 2 (4), 135. doi:10.18502/kss.v2i4.879
Melonashi, E. (2019). Social Media and Identity. Internet and Technology Addiction , 1-22. doi:10.4018/978-1-5225-8900-6.ch001
Mooney, C. (2019). Addicted to Social Media . Addicted.
Singh, D. J., & Davidson, J. (2018). Psychological and Social Control through Net Monitoring: Knowing More about Social Media Addiction and Infringement of Privacy Rights through the Net . Mendon Cottage Books.
